MediAngels Founder & noted Facial Plastic Surgeon, Dr. Debraj Shome has been relentlessly batting for building a world-class online healthcare platform & make healthcare available to very Indian equitably and affordably & is is my dream and this goes beyond my ‘other hat’ as a Facial Plastic Surgeon is what the eminent Plastic Surgeon & Oculoplastic Surgeon said on the eve of the forthcoming Leadership Meet organised by Indian Affairs, the flagship brand of Network 7 Media Group, Asia’s most credible media in mainstream journalism hosting its 6th edition in Mumbai on 21st Augst 2015 . India@58 is the theme at 6th Annual India Leadership Conclave & Indian Affairs Business Leadership Awards 2015 where Nation’s burning issues from world leaders, industry icons, Politicians, movie stars, rebels, peacemakers and social activists will be addressing.

Network 7 Media Group while announcing the name of , Dr. Debraj Shome for the selection to the category “India’s Most Promising Face in Facial Plastic Surgery Innovations” at ILC POWER BRAND 2015, the jury members looked at the revolutionary approaches in Facial Surgery by the top Facial Plastic Surgeon & Oculoplastic Surgeon who also finds a special mention at Part of “Marquis Who’s Who” & voted amongst “Best Plastic Surgeons in India” by multiple agencies. The US returned Plastic Surgeon has been in limelight recently for his opinions that almost 44% of the 12,500 patients for whom surgery was recommended were advised against it by their second opinion consultants.

In a letter addressed to MediAngels Founder Dr. Debraj Shome congratulating his selection for the coveted title as “India’s Most Promising Face in Facial Plastic Surgery Innovations”, Satya Brahma, Chairman & Editor-In-Chief of Network 7 Media Group said, “ I appreciate the spirit of innovations & path-breaking initiatives that you have been fostering over the years in medical research in Cosmetic Surgery. I am fully convinced of your accomplishments as one of the torch-bearers of cosmetic and reconstructive surgery, an investigator whose novel work will evolve the treatment of surgical disorders and the practice of plastic surgery, though not in full sense of the term, to foster the development of the best new technology and inventions in the field of plastic surgery. It is indeed commendable. We also looked at your dedicated to enhancing natural beauty, using state-of-the-art procedures to achieve natural results designed to make patients feel better and more confident about their appearance special in recent times when patient expectations often going beyond the limits of what doctors can control. I can clearly see that as an Editor & being connected to high profile celebrities, this is indeed a bigger challenges, I can say with confidence, that your practice is unique, much will be seen may be in 2020. India Leadership Conclave Platform only gives credence & recognition to innovators. The previous healthcare leaders in medical practice include Dr. Ramakant Panda, Dr. Mukesh Batra, Dr N.S. Laud, Dr. Shashank R Joshi, Dr. Naresh Trehan, Dr. Kaushal Pandey, Dr. Mukesh Hariawala to name a few”, Satya added.

Dr. Debraj Shome is the Co-Founder and currently heads the Institute of Aesthetic Surgery – The Esthetic Clinics, at JCI accredited top-line multi-specialty Indian corporate hospital. He is presently attached to many multi-specialty hospitals including Breach Candy Hospital (Breach Candy, Mumbai, India), Saifee Hospital (Girgaon, Mumbai, India), Nova Specialty Hospital (Chembur, Mumbai, India) and Holy Family Hospital (Bandra, Mumbai, India). He is the head of the Facial Plastic Surgery center at Nova superspecialty surgery, Chembur, Mumbai, India. This is one of the topmost centers catering to ultra-superspecialty surgery in India.He was the co-founder of the Esthetic Clinic at Apollo Health City, Hyderabad, and had been the Head of the Department of Facial Plastic & Cosmetic Surgery there from 2009-2011.

Dr. Shome is a world renowned and an acclaimed Facial Plastic Surgeon & Oculoplastic Surgeon, who specializes in facial cosmetic & reconstructive surgery, Oculoplastic surgery, ocular & facial cancers, orbital, lacrimal & socket surgery and is one of a handful Indian surgeons listed by Wikipedia, the world’s largest online encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debraj_Shome). Dr. Debraj Shome has won many citations and honors such as “Best Plastic Surgeon Mumbai”, “Top 10 Cosmetic Surgeon India”, “Best Oculoplastic Surgeon India”, “Marquis Who’s Who”, “Celebrity Plastic Surgeon in World”, “Marquis Who’s Who Asia Pacific” etc. Oculo-Facial Plastic Surgery is a burgeoning super-specialty in India, but is quite in demand in the USA currently. Currently majority of the facial surgeries in the US are performed by this particular group of plastic surgeons, who are super-specialized in surgeries of the lacrimal, orbital, facial & peri-ocular tissues. As these surgeons have been trained specifically in plastic surgery of the tissues of the face & practice exclusively in the face, end results in all facial surgeries tend to be better than general plastic surgeons who operate all over the body.

Since June 2007, Dr. Shome has been a Visiting Faculty to the Department of Head and Neck Surgery at the M D Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, www.mdanderson.org. Earlier he was also attached to Aditya Jyot Eye Hospital Pvt. Ltd. Mumbai, India (One of India’s top eye hospitals) and the Tata Memorial Center, Mumbai. His responsibilities included – conceptualizing, developing the Department of Oculoplastic Surgery (Ophthalmic Plastic Surgery) & Facial Plastic Surgery and being the Head Of Department there. These centers had been extremely successful. Apart from his clinical insight, Dr. Debraj Shome has a research background with interests in basic science as well as clinical plastic surgery & ophthalmology and has published more than 40 international scientific peer-reviewed papers and presented papers at various scientific forums.

Dr. Debraj Shome acquired his undergraduate medical degree from Grant Medical College and Sir J.J. Group of Hospitals, Mumbai; one of India’s oldest medical schools. Thereafter, he went ahead to specialize in ophthalmology and completed his residency from Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai. He obtained the degrees of F.R.C.S. (Fellow of Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow) in 2003 and also his Diplomate of National Board (D.N.B.) in 2004. Dr. Shome then studied extensively and acquired specialization degree in Orbital surgery, Ocular Oncology & Ophthalmic Plastic Surgery in an elaborate fellowship from L.V. Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, India, 2005. Dr. Shome subsequently completed an esteemed clinical fellowship in Cosmetic Facial Plastic surgery from one of the world’s top centers at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, USA. Following that, Dr. Shome completed another clinical Fellowship in Head & Neck Surgery from the Department of Head & Neck Surgery at the M D Anderson Cancer Center in 2007. This fellowship, prepared Dr. Debraj Shome to specialize in multi-disciplinary approaches to Head & Neck Oncology. This makes Dr. Shome truly distinctive as he has been trained independently and exclusively at the best / top centers in ophthalmology (eye surgery), plastic reconstructive & cosmetic surgery of the face & peri-ocular area & oculoplastic surgery. After completing his MBA (Masters of Business Administration) in Healthcare Management in November 2008, from one of the world’s top business schools, Dr. Shome added another chef d’oeuvre. Such a remarkable coalition of top-class health and clinical practice skill sets enables Dr. Shome to develop and lead teams to make the best possible centers, as a man manager, an administrator and a surgeon. Dr. Debraj Shome founded The Esthetic Clinic at Apollo Hospitals Hyderabad, now situated at two of the most reputed hospitals in Mumbai. Dr. Debraj Shome has won numerous rewards and honors in his career till date. He has penned down more than 40 research papers and has published those in top-line peer reviewed international journals, chapters in international books and has given numerous presentations in ophthalmology conferences, head & neck conferences, oculoplasty meetings, ENT conferences, Reconstructive Surgery meets, Facial Plastic Surgery Conferences, Plastic Surgery symposiums, and Cosmetology conferences all over the world; thus, Dr. Shome is a trailblazer who not only practices the best in medicine but also conducts research that modify practice patterns and make up the ‘medicine of tomorrow’.

Indian Affairs Editor-In-Chief Mr. Satya Brahma caught up with Dr. Debraj Shome on the recent state of affairs in the field of Plastic Surgery, here are the excerpts from the interview.

Question: What according to you is Facial Plastic Surgery trending now?

Answer : This is the era of super-specialization in Medicine. As Doctors become super-specialized, they gain even more knowledge in that particular specialty which they are specialized in. This, in turn, improves medical outcomes.

In earlier days, there used to be just general practitioners and they who used to treat all kind of disease conditions, affecting any and every part of the human body. For example, Earlier, it used to be the case that our kids used to get treated by a Family Physician. But now, with so much advancement and super-specialization in the field of Medicine, every parent would prefer taking their child to Pediatrician (Child Specialist) for treatment. In general, it has been proven repeatedly as Doctors keep on doing the same thing again & again, their outcomes improve, which in turn benefits the patients.

This concept of improved results with super-specialization, extends itself to Facial Plastic Surgery. Earlier, there used to be only General Plastic Surgeons and they used to perform all types of plastic surgery on the entire body and also surgeries as varied as microvascular surgery, burns surgery, hand surgery and even aesthetic facial plastic surgery. But, it is impossible for any one specialist to excel in all of these types of surgeries. This marked the start of the advent and development of Facial Plastic Surgery as a super-specialty.

In the Western world, it has been proven repeatedly that when a Facial Plastic Surgeon performs a surgery on the face, as opposed to a General Plastic Surgeon, the outcomes of surgery are much improved. A Facial Plastic Surgeon’s sole focus is performing surgeries on the face. They keep on doing the same types of surgeries throughout their life, as a result of which there are improved outcomes & lesser complications.

Cosmetic Surgery or Plastic Surgery is all about trying to make a person look better & perform a surgery in an aesthetic manner, whatever be the underlying cause, be it fracture, cancer, or purely for cosmetic reasons. It is unacceptable in today’s world to be treating a cancer on the face in a manner that the cancer is treated, but the face is scarred for life! So, paying aesthetic attention to all diseases of the face, is important!

So, in summary, If Doctors start concentrating on a particular part of body, e.g face, certainly the results will be better and patients will have more predictable outcomes. So, Facial Plastic Surgery is currently a growing sub-specialty in India, but a standard specialty in the US and any other Western countries. In western countries, most of the surgeries of the face are performed by Facial Plastic Surgeons and I see this trend being reproduced in India over a period of time.

Question : Has India come of ages in the Creative & substantive innovations in Facial Plastic Surgery if so, what are its milestone achievements?

Answer : Facial Plastic Surgery is an emerging specialty in India. Most of the Facial Plastic Surgeons in India today, have been trained in this specialty from across the world and are now practicing in India. This is beneficial to India, as I am certain that these surgeons will bring with them the expertise of the Western world, outcomes will start improving and becoming better and better as individuals and professionals concentrate on this particular branch of medicine.

India is already turning out to be a large Medical Tourism centre for people from the western countries coming here to get treated. Indian doctors have created a name for themselves in multiple specialties & sub-specialties. It seems as if Facial Plastic Surgery would be the next frontier.

Some milestone achievements have been achieved by us so far, in Facial Plastic Surgery, already. Like for example, in 2010, we were responsible for treating an Iraqi woman, whose face was destroyed by a pen bomb planted by the American Forces. It took us 11 hours to reconstruct all the bones of her face and give her a new look and a new life. This was probably the first Face Transplant like Surgery or the first complete Face Rejuvenation Surgery performed in India. Many such milestone achievements would be expected from Indian Facial Plastic Surgeons in the future, as there is no paucity of talent in India.

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This story was covered globally by Reuters.

Question : Your take on Indian VS Global in excellence in Facial Plastic Surgery?

Answer : The face is a cross over zone and there are a multiple specialities, who perform surgeries on the face. For an instance, there are General Plastic Surgeons who operate on the face. There are Oculoplastic Surgeons, who are from an Ophthalmology background and work on the face & are specialized to work in the area in and around the eyes & upper face. There are Facial Plastic Surgeons who are from an ENT (Otolaryngology) & sometimes Ophthalmology and work on the face; Maxillofacial Surgeons who come from a background of Dentistry and are specialized to treat bones and occlusion. Each of these backgrounds gives these surgeons greater understanding in their areas of the face. So, I think it becomes very important to gain excellence in Facial Plastic Surgery by trying to work with all these multiple specialties, and to learn from each of them.

People who get to work with all these multi-specialties tend to get better because there is something to learn from every other surgeon they are working with. An ENT surgeon would perform a better Rhinoplasty (Nose job) surgery when trained in Facial Plastic Surgery, or an Ophthalmologist would be better at performing a Blepharoplasty (Eyelid Surgery) and so on. And someone who has worked with all these specialties will certainly create excellence.

I am very privileged to have gained Fellowship training (additional surgical training) in 4 different & diverse sub-specialties associated with Facial Plastic Surgery which are, Head & Neck Surgery, Oculoplastic Surgery, Facial Plastic Surgery & I recently completed a Fellowship training in Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery from Wales, UK. By training with multiple specialties, it helps to amplify our knowledge and lets us get better.

When comparing Indians with Global excellence in Facial Plastic Surgery, I can say that at this moment India is in an emergent stage when it comes to Facial Plastic Surgery. Probably there a very few trained Facial Plastic Surgeons. However, this trend is set to change since all the surgeons are realising that we cannot be performing surgeries for all the parts of the body and excel at it all. So in the near future, I see more and more Indians training in Facial Plastic Surgery, concentrating on excelling in this, publishing research papers in Facial Plastic Surgery and working towards making India one of the Global frontiers in Facial Plastic Surgery.

Question : What according to you are the missing links in Indian Facial Plastic Surgery?

Answer : In my opinion, the biggest missing link in Indian Facial Plastic Surgery is that there are no programs or training courses dedicated to training young surgeons in Facial Plastic Surgery in India. Most of the current Facial Plastic Surgeons have been trained overseas.

In India, when Doctors acquire training in Plastic Surgery, they feel that obtaining a M.Ch. in General Plastic Surgery is the best possible way to become a Plastic Surgeon. But the truth is that, M. Ch. Training courses in General Plastic Surgery in Indian hospitals do not even deal with Cosmetic Surgery. They deal chiefly with burns & reconstructive surgery. Now, when you are trained in burns surgery and try to come and try and operate on a person’s nose and change it 1 mm this way or that way, these are really different surgeries to perform. And, even more difficult patients to manage. The mindset itself of managing these patients and performing these surgeries is very different!

So, doctors/ surgeons like us who are trained in different specialties should come together and start training programs in India, so that more and more surgeons are ultimately trained in & specialised in Facial Plastic Surgery. The surgical skills are already there, what needs to happen is more and more surgeons should be trained in terms of appropriate communication for a cosmetic patient, developing the right mindset and obtaining appropriate training in Facial Plastic Surgery. This will certainly help transform India into one of the Global frontiers for Facial Plastic Surgery.

Answer : Facial Plastic Surgery is a super-specialty that is shooting up in India presently while in USA, it is in vogue currently and most facial surgeries in US currently are performed by this particular genre of plastic surgeons, who are super-specialized in surgeries of the facial tissues.

I was the ex-Head of Department at the Institute of Aesthetic Surgery at The Apollo Hospitals, Apollo Health City, Hyderabad, India and Ex-Consultant at the Institute of Aesthetic Surgery at Fortis Hospital, Mumbai, India which are both JCI accredited top-line multi-specialty Indian corporate hospitals.

I consider myself very fortunate to have won numerous accolades and honors in my career till date. I have to my credit, 40 research articles published in top-line peer reviewed international journals, chapters in international books and numerous presentations in ophthalmology conferences, head & neck conferences, ENT conferences, Facial Plastic Surgery Conferences and Cosmetology conferences world over. Also, I am honoured to be a faculty at two of the world’s top rhinoplasty and facial plastic surgery cadaveric dissection courses, held at Vinnea, Austria and San Francisco in USA.

I am extremely fortunate to have won the Colonel Rangachari award & the Hanumantha Reddy award in 2010, for a revolutionary paper and invention of a nano-molecule of carboplatin (a cancer drug), which promises to change the way eye, facial & neural cancers are treated. This is considered the highest award for research performed in ophthalmology in India that year.

As a Global Citizen, I would like to see that healthcare becomes available equally and freely for all. Apart from being a Physician, I have also had the honour of being entrepreneurial and we have started an Online Hospital called MediAngels.com . MediAngels.com aims to do to healthcare, what Flipkart & Snapdeal are doing to products all over the world. The purpose of this e-healthcare venture is to have the best doctors from all across the world on a cloud based platform and match the best Doctor to every single disease with the help of technology, in the form of phone and the internet, and making doctors available all across the world.

It seems strange to me and surreal in a way that in the population of about 1.2 billion in India, you can buy the best phone or camera whether you are in the most remote area or in Mumbai, but you still can’t have access to the best doctors. Today, you cannot have access to the best doctors and I am sure the same would be the case 30 years later, as best doctors are a rare resource, and it would be very difficult to have the best doctors in every city or every town or every village or every multi-specialty hospital.

Therefore, MediAngels, the World’s First Online Hospital, is the business of tomorrow, wherein we connect Global Medical experts, diagnostic laboratories and all other types of medical requirements, to patients, using technology. The strength of MediAngels can be ascertained by the fact that it has been voted as the most innovative startup in the Asia Pacific region in 2012, by Intel & The Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, from amongst 8,000 companies. The strength of this social enterprise can also be deciphered from the fact that MediAngels has been funded by diverse entities, like the India’s largest private equity fund – HDFC Holdings Ltd., the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India and by a renowned venture capital fund – VenturEast.

So in summary, I as a Global Citizen would like to change the way healthcare is delivered all across the world. I, in my lifetime, would like to see an equitable distribution of healthcare to every citizen in India & all over the world, at the most affordable price, within the comforts of their office/ workplace. MediAngels is our way of trying to accomplish the same. We hope to succeed in our endeavour to do so!

Facial Plastic Surgery is a super-specialty which is nascent in India, but is quite the rage in the USA currently and most facial surgeries in the US currently are performed by this particular genre of plastic surgeons, who are super-specialized in surgeries of the facial tissues.

Dr. Shome specialises in facial cosmetic and reconstructive surgery, facial and ocular oncology (cancers), oculoplastic, eyelid and orbital surgery. Dr. Shome has trained in India, the UK, USA and Singapore and is one of very few plastic surgeons in the world with fellowships in all four sub-specialties of facial surgery: Facial plastic surgery, Oculoplastic surgery, Head & Neck surgery & Maxillo-Facial Surgery. Dr. Debraj Shome is also a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (FACS), a feat achieved by less than 10 plastic surgeons in India.

Dr. Debraj Shome is the Co-Founder and currently heads the Institute of Aesthetic Surgery at The Esthetic Clinics. Dr. Shome is presently attached to some of the best multi-specialty hospitals in Mumbai, including Breach Candy Hospital (Breach Candy, Mumbai, India), Saifee Hospital (Girgaon, Mumbai, India), Apollo Spectra Hospital (Chembur, Mumbai, India) and Holy Family Hospital (Bandra, Mumbai, India). Dr. Shome was the co-founder of the Esthetic Clinic at Apollo Health City, Hyderabad, India – He started the center and was there from 2009-2011. The Esthetic Clinics are now a chain of centers, situated at many of the most reputed hospitals in Mumbai, India.

Dr. Shome has over 45 national and international peer reviewed publications in cutting-edge basic & clinical research in Facial Plastic Surgery, Oculoplastic Surgery & Cosmetic Surgery. His research efforts include the development of the QR 678 hair composition (currently awaiting the award of a global patent) & a new nanomolecule drug for retinoblastoma treatment, invented in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, India.Dr. Shome added another chef d’oeuvre by completing the MBA (Masters of Business Administration) in Healthcare Management in November 2008, from one of the world’s top business schools. This extra-ordinary merger of top-class health and clinical practice skill sets enables Dr. Shome to develop and lead teams to make the best possible centers, as a man manager, an administrator and a surgeon.

Dr. Shome is also the co-founder and CEO of MediAngels.com, The world’s first online hospital. MediAngels has been voted as the most innovative start up from the entire Asia Pacific region, from amongst 8000 companies, by Intel & The Department of Science & Technology. This revolutionary business concept, which aims at providing “health for all” is funded by top venture capital & private equity firms & also by the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India.

Dr. Shome has also won the extremely acclaimed Colonel Rangachari award & the Hanumantha Reddy in 2010, for his far-reaching invention and paper on a nano-molecule of c a r b o p l a t i n (a cancer drug), that vows to alter the way facial, neural & eye cancers are treated. Dr. Debraj Shome was honored with the extremely eminent Davies Foundation Grant Award by the Royal College of Surgeons, Glasgow, United Kingdom in 2010. This Grant Award is bestowed on to only two outstanding physicians (best / leading doctors) from all over the world annually, who have performed splendid work in cancer research and therapy, played a part in conducting life-saving research and have changed the entire pattern of cancer therapy in the world. Dr. Shome was the first recipient of this award from Asia and the youngest ever to receive this award.

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